Best / Worst Case LBJ

The LBJ Wolves have been trending slowly upwards under third year head coach Oscar Villasenor. Villasenor matched the programs best season in school history in year two with a three win season and he has his teams sights set on making history in 2010. Running back Ricky Flores should be astounding as usual, but the questions on offense are whether or not a passing game will emerge to keep defenses honest. On the defensive side of the ball all-district defensive lineman Jose Solis will be an integral cog of keeping opponents off the score board. Villasenor has turned struggling programs into playoff contenders at every stop of his career and in 2010 we will find out if he’s still got the magic it takes to continue leading LBJ in the right direction.

BEST CASE SCENARIO

LBJ’s dream season begins with a game against La Joya at the SAC on Sept 2. This game will be memorable for being the first game played under the lights of the SAC’s new mammoth video board, but don’t expect that to leave the Wolves looking star struck. La Joya already played their season opener on Aug. 26 and were destroyed by a score of 10-47. LBJ’s history making dream season would begin with a Thursday night win basked in the warm glow of Laredo’s newest big screen.

The La Joya contest will be followed up by an early season road trip to visit one of the top teams in the district, Eagle Pass. The Eagles are expected to compete for the district title and even though LBJ returns a districts best 16 starters from last years team, a road win here is probably expecting too much in year three. This would put LBJ at 1-1 on the season.

The early season slate for LBJ doesn’t get any easier in week three when Del Rio comes to town. Facing another of 29-5A’s 2009 playoff teams will make for a hard early contest and while LBJ might be able to keep this one interesting, a win is probably just out of grasp. 1-2.

LBJ gets a break from playing playoff contenders in week four when the Wolves face the Nixon Mustangs. This will be a great and hard-fought game between two programs which are in the process of building. In a dream season LBJ finds a way to win it to advance to 2-2 on the season.

At the mid-point of the season LBJ will face off against the Cigarroa Toros. Cigarroa may have a winless 2009 record but don’t let that fool you, the Toros have a surprising amount of size which will challenge the LBJ defensive line. This game will be worth seeing if only because it’s a contest between the only two non-spread offenses in town and a dream season would dictate an LBJ victory against the Toros to put them at 3-2.

LBJ takes its second of two road trips a week later when the Wolves return to Eagle Pass, this time to face Eagle Pass Winn. Road games are never easy, but a dream season would feature a much stronger performance for LBJ in their return to Eagle Pass. A win here would advance the Wolves to 4-2 and officially make 2010 the best season in LBJ football history.

Returning from a history making weekend, the Wolves would next face the Martin Tigers. During the pre-season the Tigers run defense looked doubtful but by mid Oct. they would certainly hope to have the problems solved and behind them. Still, an ideal season would see LBJ pulling away in the second half for a deceptively big victory and a 5-2 record.

The last three weeks for LBJ are even rougher than the first three weeks for the school. The Wolves will face the local district favorites in back to back contests against Alexander and United. If the Wolves faltered earlier in the year they might make up for it with an upset against one of these two teams but it would be quite the shocker if it were to happen. At this point of the pre-season it’s hard to say LBJ would win either game, putting the Wolves at 5-4.

The grand finale for LBJ is a game that every player has circled on their calendar, a date with United South. LBJ has never beat United South and in a season where the school already made history in the wins column, the dream would only be complete if the Wolves made history again by earning their first win over rival United South.

A Wolves dream season would wrap up at 6-4 and, with a bit of luck, might just lock down the fourth playoff spot and a historic trip to the post-season. If the dream season becomes reality, look out. Villasenor will have his team on a roll and full of momentum and the Wolves could become a regular face in the playoffs.

WORST CASE SCENARIO

The flip side of the coin from a dream season is a worst case scenario. The Wolves don’t have a single “gimme” game on the season, but I wouldn’t go as far as saying 0-10. This is a scrappy team that doesn’t say quit and somewhere they should find a way to win at least one game, most likely against Martin, Winn, or La Joya. If the passing game never becomes a serious threat and opponents are able to continuously stack the box against Flores it could prove to be a long season for Laredo’s southernmost school. 1-9 would be a worst case LBJ scenario.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN?

It’s hard to imagine the worst case happening under coach Villasenor, the man is just as steady as they come and history is on his side. Wolves fans should expect to make history at least once and should have four wins by their week eight contest against Alexander. A win or a loss against United South is about as easy to predict as the toss of a coin, and I’ll go ahead and wait until November before I decide who’s going to win that one. It should be a history making year for LBJ, the Wolves are on the rise.